Questioning Fate
by AAnitab
Summary: Duke figures out what Nathan meant about fate and helps his friends find their own charted path. A case lets him push people's buttons. Chap. 8, Duke gets his turn to comment on it. See the sequels "Unsilent Night" and "Hugs and Tests" for family fluff.
1. Putting the pieces together

Title: Questioning Fate

Author: AnitaB

Author's notes: I own nothing from Haven and nothing I do own would be worth winning in a lawsuit. No money is made and no infringement is intended. Set just after the 'fate' episode, my Duke figured out what Nathan was really talking about in their conversation and decides that his favorite pair of cops obviously need a little more active help in finding their owned charted path. And luckily enough a case gives him enough background to be useful, and their personal pain for a little while. Audrey/Nathan romantic committed smut coming up. Oh, and I don't acknowledge the season finale or its conclusions on either Audrey or Nathan's, shall we say, origins.

Questioning Fate

By AnitaB

Chapter one: Putting the pieces together.

"It wasn't Jess, was it?"

Typical Duke. That conversation had been weeks ago and neither man had mentioned it again in the time in between. Now, out of the blue, in the middle of a case where the bar owner/local smuggler had inside information on the objects connected with their weird murders of the week, he wanted to talk about it. "Blowing up smuggling boats in the marina? No, I don't think that Jess came back to Haven to attack our thriving black market trade. Do you?"

Duke made a frustrated sound from a foot behind him before Nathan found himself jerked around by a fistful of his jacket. "Damnit, Nathan. That's not what I'm talking about and you know it."

"All I know, Duke, is that I let Audrey bring you in on this because you said you still had connections despite your new found status as a supposedly law-abiding citizen." Nathan let his eyes track across the docks to the woman in question. Audrey was crouched next to Julia over the latest body. "So are you making those connections for us or should I send you home with detention." He dragged his gaze back to the criminal standing way too close to him just in time to see the edge of a smile on his face.

"It wasn't Jess, it was never Jess." He knew exactly what Duke was talking about, had noticed the man watching him very closely since that slip about fate. But that didn't mean he was just gonna give in and tell Duke anything. "You haven't told her, have you? You haven't told her anything."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Nathan turned away and fought to keep his eyes off Audrey in the process. "Get back to work, Duke, or I'll arrest you for obstructing justice."

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, you goddamn idiot." This time Duke shoved him against the ship's railing and growled almost in his face. "You can feel Audrey's touch, can't you? That's how you knew the chameleon had copied her, isn't it?" One hand flashed across his eyes before the sound of his own breath rushing out let him know that Duke had punched him in the chest. "And you never told her. Why haven't you told her, you stupid bastard?"

Nathan thunked his head back against the pole at his back hard enough to make an audible thump. "I can't. God, I've thought about it dozens of times." He closed his eyes. It was bad enough that he had to look himself in the face in the mirror. There was no way in hell he wanted to see the pity and disgust on Duke's face. "I can't tell her, Duke. I'd lose everything."

"She's going to figure it out eventually. I've known you for years, Nathan, and you never touch anyone like you've been touching her. Audrey's smart, and it's going to hurt her a lot more that you didn't tell her something this big yourself." Duke took a step back and put a comforting hand on his shoulder, but he didn't notice the contact until he opened his eyes. "Maybe it is fate. Maybe she's meant for you." The criminal glanced over at the women before he leaned close again and lowered his voice. "But you have to tell her. You're her partner and she trusts you. Partners don't lie to each other, don't hide from each other."

"It's not that simple."

"How's this for simple? How long are you going to live off high fives and handshakes before you can't stand it anymore and shock the hell out of her with something more? What are you going to lose then?"

"Hey, Nathan! Come take a look at this!" Nathan clenched his eyes at the sound of Audrey calling for him, hating that Duke was right there to watch every helpless little emotion cross his face.

"Your partner's calling for you. Aren't you gonna answer her?"

"Be right there, Parker." Nathan fisted both hands in Duke's shirt and dragged him out of Audrey's line of sight. "If you tell her anything, no one will ever find enough of your body to identify you. Do you understand me, Duke?"

Dropping both hands, he took a few deep breaths and headed towards Audrey across the dock. Behind him, Duke started laughing. "I give it a week, and this is one show I wouldn't miss for the world."

One of these days, he really was going to put Duke in jail and make it stick.

000

"Damnit, Duke. What's wrong with you?" Audrey found herself close enough to Duke's chest to count the stitches on his shirt pocket. Slapping both hands against his ribs, she shoved him back a step and glared. Yeah, he was helping them on a case and his so called connections had put them on the right track. But that was days ago and he was still hanging around. Audrey quite literally stepped on him when she turned around this time. For days he'd been invading the hell out of her personal space with a smile and laugh. It was driving her nuts. "What the hell is up? Damn, what did I do to make you my personal stalker this week?"

"I don't have any idea what you're talking about, Officer Parker." He sat on the edge of her desk and smiled at her. "I thought I was helping you and Nathan with the smuggling boats."

Nathan snorted behind his desk and shot her a quick, sympathetic look. "Yeah, you're helping us. Really…"

"Yup, that's the plan, Officer Wournos. I'm just helpful like that." Duke's smile got even wider when he turned it on an oblivious Nathan, whose head hadn't lifted from the paperwork before him.

She was missing something here, something big. Audrey hated feeling clueless. Nathan had been acting weird for what seemed like forever and Duke was flirting harder in the last few days than he had since her first week in Haven. He'd been touching her too. They both had. Duke kept putting a hand on the back, helping her up steps, a dozen different things. But only when Nathan was around to witness it. And Nathan hadn't left them alone in a room for more than twenty minutes all week.

/What the hell is going on here?\\

Frankly Audrey was about to shoot them both and let the rest of the boats in the marina merrily be blown to bits unless someone explained it right the hell now. And based on how little luck she'd had in getting Nathan to come clean, it was time to try out Duke. "Like hell," Audrey poked Duke hard in the chest. "Enough, you are coming with me." She spun on one heel and caught the strange expression on Nathan's face before he went blank and a little scared. "And you are staying right there until we get back. Don't move an inch, or I swear I'll do something to you that you'll never forget."

Hooking one finger in the front of Duke's shirt she led the laughing man to the first open interrogation room. "Now sit down and tell me what the hell is going on with you guys."

"I have no idea what you mean, Audrey." You'd think he'd be a better liar with his rather extensive criminal record.

"The hell you don't, Duke." Audrey flopped into the chair. "You're using me to get at Nathan. Nathan's been acting really weird for weeks, but won't tell me why. You haven't touched me this much in… well, ever. And I can't even turn around without stepping on one of you, you're both hovering so damn close. What the hell is going on?"

Duke smiled, wide and warm, reaching across the table to claim one of her hands. "I can't tell you, Audrey. It's not my secret to share." He kissed her knuckles despite her glare and a rather forceful attempt to take back her hand. "All I will say on the matter is that it's Nathan's tale to tell and that it's very important. Go beat it out of him and don't let him hide from you anymore." She just sat there speechless as Duke pressed another kiss to the back of her hand and stood up by her side. He'd never smiled at her like that before. It wasn't at all flirtatious. It was weirdly tender and sweet. "Good luck, Audrey. Call me if either of you need anything."

She was still sitting there silently with her mouth open as she watched him walk right out the door. "What the hell is going on here?"

/It's Nathan's tale to tell…\\

Well, if it was Nathan's story then he was damn well going to tell her. Audrey stood sharply, frustration edging into anger in her blood. "Oh, I'll beat it out of him if I have to." She bounced the door off the wall slamming it open so hard. "Nathan, we have to talk." He'd never in all the months they'd worked together looked so damn scared as he did right this moment. /Damn, Duke was right.\\ "Come with me, right now."

000


	2. Want, Need, and Feelings

See Chapter one for all author's notes.

Questioning Fate

By AnitaB

Chapter two: Want, need, and feelings

He could hear her coming from across the building. And for once it wasn't just his good ears. Audrey was pissed. Nathan wouldn't be at all surprised if the interview room door was embedded in the wall by the sound alone. /What the hell did you do, Duke?\\

"Nathan, we have to talk." His world was about to fall apart, he could see it right there in her face. "Come with me, right now." She looked like that in the moments before someone made her pull the trigger. Nathan never wanted to be the cause of that combination of anger and guilt on her face.

"Audrey," He was on his feet almost against his will and moving towards hers across the floor.

"No, not here." Her hair flew because she turned so fast on one heel and fled the room. Nathan glanced around to see every pair of eyes in the building locked on his face as he helplessly followed his partner out of the building.

He caught up to her feet from the side of his truck, fisting his hands in his pockets to keep from reaching out for her. "Audrey, what did Duke tell you?" She wouldn't look at him and it made it just that much harder to control his itching fingers.

"Just get in and drive." The look on her face made any further questions absolutely impossible. So Nathan just slid behind the wheel and put the truck in gear. The bluffs would do for this conversation. She could just push him off the cliffs if she was going to leave him.

The drive was silent and awkward enough to make his teeth hurt. /Audrey, please…\\ Pulling the truck to the side of the road, Nathan turned off the engine and tried to give Audrey a calm face. "Audrey,"

"I'm your partner, right? And you're mine?" His voice stopped in his throat and all he managed was a nod. /Of course I'm yours, Audrey, any way you want me.\\ She turned to lean against the truck door, matching his nod with one of her own. "And we trust each other, right?" He wanted to touch her so badly right now. And not because he wanted the feel of her skin against his, just because of the little girl insecurity in her voice. All he managed was another nod. "Then why are you hiding something from me? Especially something so important?"

Now his voice worked. "What did he say to you?" She didn't answer, just pulled her knee up to her chest and refused to look at him. "Audrey?" She flinched and he felt it like a stabbing pain to the chest.

"Duke didn't tell me anything that I didn't already know. You're hiding something from me, Nathan. You've been acting weird for weeks and you won't talk to me." Her hands clenched against her jeans and he ached to reach out for those hands. "If I'm your partner, if I'm your friend, Nathan, you have to tell me the truth. What's wrong with us?"

/Oh, Audrey…\\ Now there was absolutely nothing he could do to control his hands. Nathan had to touch Audrey and he had to touch her right now. "Audrey, nothing's wrong with us." He let himself reach out and claim one of her hands between both of his. Warmth flooded his deadened nerves. And for once he didn't try to hide anything, fought to put exactly what he was feeling on his face. "Something's right, so impossibly right." His eyes fell closed as he got lost in the heat of her skin. Soft, smooth silk moved under his fingertips. He felt her squeeze his fingers and returned the pressure automatically.

"Nathan?" Her voice had moved closer, but it was the slide of her fingertips along the stubbled line of his jaw that made his eyes pop open. "Nathan, can you…"

The words he'd imagined and practiced in his head for weeks were suddenly on his lips as naturally as breathing. "I can feel you, Audrey. You're the only thing I can feel." He had the time to watch her eyes widen and her teeth catch at her lower lip before his eyes clenched at the feel of her. Then Nathan bit back a groan as Audrey wrapped him in glorious heat.

Her arms closed tight around his neck. Her face tucked in flush against his cheek. Her hands clutched at the back of his neck with just the hint of her nails. He could feel her body press closer against his chest through their clothes. Nathan finally, finally buried a hand in the silk of her hair and held her as close as he could get her. His other hand slipped under the edge of her shirt to spread out flat against the skin of her lower back. He adored feeling the shifting of her muscles under her skin. "Nathan,"

/Audrey, please.\\

000

Nathan's sudden claiming of her hand shocked her, but it was the returned squeeze of his fingers around hers that put her heart in her throat. His eyes were closed. She'd slammed the truck door on those fingers the first day she'd met him and he hadn't even flinched. But with his eyes shut Nathan somehow knew she'd tightened her grip. /It's not possible…\\ Audrey's voice seemed to stop in her throat despite the dozens of words fighting through her mind to get to her tongue. "Nathan?" She had to know, had to see in his face that this miracle was real. The lightest touch of her fingertips to his cheek made his eyes pop open and now her heart was racing at what she could see in his eyes. "Nathan, can you…"

"I can feel you, Audrey. You're the only thing I can feel." Audrey heard her breath catch in the moment before her body over-rode her brain and she got lost in warmth. If Nathan could feel her then there wasn't really a need for words now. What they both needed was touch, right now.

She couldn't have detailed under oath exactly how she got there. But by her next breath, Audrey was wrapped in the heat of Nathan's arms and the sound of his bitten off groan. She held him so tight she couldn't breathe, but he only held on even tighter. Nathan's fingers slid through her hair, running the strands between his fingers. He shoved one rough, hot palm under her shirt to spread wide against the small of her back. His breath was rough and ragged against her cheek as two bodies strained for one more inch of skin contact. "Nathan."

He didn't let go, but neither did he hold still. Nathan shifted in her arms, rubbing his skin against hers in a heated friction. It was like he was trying to wrap the feeling of her around his every single nerve. That sounded like the perfect plan. Audrey shifted, meaning to slide her skin against more of his. But Nathan wasn't a mind-reader. He thought she was pulling away. "Audrey," His arms clenched, pinning her to his ribs as both his hands clutched at her back.

"Shh, I'm right here, Nathan, not going anywhere." She helped his arms pull her across his lap and pressed a simple kiss to his forehead. "Close your eyes." Audrey smiled against his skin and pulled back enough to see him obey. "Good boy, now remember to breathe." It was weird, but somehow perfect to be free to watch him as her fingers traced along the lines of his face. He was almost purring, leaning into her touch, and smiling like she'd never seen. He was touch-starved, had been for years and yet for weeks he'd been resisting reaching out for her. "How long, Nathan, how long have you been able to feel me?"

His mouth opened silently twice as his hands clenched on her waist. Before he managed to speak, Nathan opened his eyes and ran his fingers through her hair. "Since you kissed me on the cheek, after Jess left. I felt that kiss, felt your lips. I felt you, Audrey. So soft, so warm."

He didn't want her to breathe ever, ever again. Not with the way his eyes locked on her lips and the strength and need in his hands on her skin. Nathan was asking for a kiss in every way but actually begging for it. And there was nothing she wanted to give him more. "Nathan," Audrey kept her eyes open until the last moment, watching his face to make sure he was alright with this. That doubt quickly vanished as he met her halfway with a low, desperate moan. Warm, firm lips clung to her own, chaste and somehow fierce. His hands flew to cup her face, fingertips stroking along her jaw as he pulled her closer. Like she was trying to get away. /No, Nathan, I'm not ever going anywhere.\\ Nathan needed her, needed more. And she needed to give it to him. Audrey pulled his shirt loose from his belt and dragged her hands up the tense muscles of his stomach and chest. She adored the response of him under her palms. Every inch of his body stuttered and arched into her hands. His lips parted around a rasp of a groan. Audrey took full advantage of the access, dragging her nails lightly down his skin and teasing his tongue with the tip of her own.

Now chaste was nowhere to be found as Nathan dove into the kiss eagerly. This was more than warm. This was incredibly hot and only getting better as he pulled her deeper into the dance of their tongues. She was lost in the warm depths of his kiss when his hands pushed her back. "Audrey?" His voice held a mixture of heat and worry. And his hands stayed on her skin, holding her close enough to feel his ragged breath on her lips.

"I want this, Nathan. But only if you do." She slid one hand up his skin until her palm covered his heart, loving the racing beat of it under her fingers. "You're too important as my friend and my partner to lose you over something we might not be ready for. I want this, but I need you." Audrey dragged in a deep breath, resisting the urge to reclaim his lips. "No matter what, I won't leave you without touch."

"Audrey," Nathan trailed his fingertips along the line of her cheek, leading her in for a chaste press of lips. "I've wanted you since before I could feel you. I need you, too."

/Nathan, you have me.\\

000


	3. Breaking the Law

See Chapter one for all author's notes.

Questioning Fate

By AnitaB

Chapter three: Breaking the law

He could feel his heart pounding in his chest… because her hand was covering it warmly. Nathan could feel all of her, skin to skin, every gorgeous inch. But right now it was her words that made breathing almost impossible. Audrey was staring down into his face, her beautiful eyes filled with so much heat and concern. She cared this much about him. Every word and the look in her eyes made than undeniably clear. But more than being his friend and partner… this gorgeous woman in his arms, in his lap wanted him. Audrey was barely keeping herself from kissing him again even as she promised him touch.

He couldn't help himself. Her name was on his lips in the instant before they found hers. It took every ounce of his shredded self-control to keep the kiss short and get the words out, true words he'd been hiding. "I've wanted you since before I could feel you. I need you, too."

She shivered, every inch of her shaking under his fingertips, in his arms, pressing so close against his chest. Then he was shaking, trembling, and gasping as her hands dragged heat and friction over every inch of his chest and her lips reclaimed his. Audrey, warm, caring Audrey was in his lap, burning him alive with a kiss and a touch. Her voice vibrated against his fingers as he stroked the smooth curve of her throat.

Then it was his turn to groan low in his throat when Audrey shifted against his hips, turning in his arms to straddle his knees for a better angle at his lips. /Oh, yes, please, Audrey, more.\\ There was nothing he wanted more than getting her closer, hotter, tighter. Nathan welcomed the deeper thrust of her tongue and the tighter grip of her arms. The shift also made the curve of her hips call for his hands. "Audrey," He let his fingers slide up the lean strength of her thighs to cup those hips and pull her close. Nathan could feel the muscles in her legs tighten and tremble under his fingertips, but the jeans dulled the sensation. The warmth of her skin tempted him from above her belt. But this was something he wanted to see and feel. Nathan forced himself back from her lips to watch her face before he dragged wide spread fingers up her waist to feel her ribs heave with a ragged breath.

"Nathan, please." It was her hand guiding his higher, settling the soft, sweet curve of her breast right into his palm. So warm and so soft even through the lace and cotton. He wanted… he needed… Nathan stopped himself from peeling the shirt and bra out of the way of her skin by will power alone. But he couldn't stop the circling of his fingertips over her stiffened nipple, not yet. "I want to feel you."

"Audrey," Breathing in the scent of her hair, he pressed a kiss to the arched line of her neck just to feel her pulse racing against his lips. "Unless you want to be buck naked in the front of my truck, you need to tell me to stop… right now." He rubbed one hand up and down the curve of her back, his fingers touching the hooks of her bra briefly. "Your skin is unbelievably soft." Nathan helplessly dipped his head to brush his lips ever so slowly along the line of her collar bone. "I want to feel every inch of you against my skin, so warm." He flicked the tip of his tongue into the notch at the base of her throat. "So delicious." She hesitated, her arms pulling him closer, just long enough for him to kiss his way back up to her lips. "Audrey,"

Every single gorgeous inch of her body trembled and pressed closer at the sound of her name. Then she made his body shake and arch with the depth of her kiss. "You're right, you're so right, Nathan." He breathed in the shaky sound of his name and forced his arms open as she pulled back. "We have to go. If we get arrested for public nudity, then who will take care of the troubled?" Nathan just had to drag her close and kiss that beautiful curve of her lips before he could let her go. Her nails lightly scratched along his skin as she dragged herself out of his arms and back across the seat. "Get us out of here."

/So damn beautiful…\\ Nathan weakly dragged his fingers through his hair and fisted them around the steering wheel. "Buckle up,"

Her eyebrow arched as she obeyed. "Are you finally going to pull the 'son of the chief' card if we get pulled over?"

"No cop in Haven would even try to pull this truck over." He gave her a smile and put the truck in gear. "No matter how many traffic laws I'm about to break." His eyes locked helplessly on the sight of her teeth sinking into her lower lip. It was all he could do to keep himself from leaning in for another kiss. Now that he knew just how sweet she tasted, Nathan wanted more. He wanted all of her. Right now. "So hold on."

"To anything you want me to."

/God, sweetheart,\\ She was trying to kill him, trying to give him a heart attack or make him head-on a tree. Just the thought of those gorgeous little fingers holding onto to him, the places she could really touch him … made driving almost impossible. Almost. "Hold that thought and stay on your side of the car 'til we get there."

"Just hurry it up then."

"Yes, ma'am."

000

She would have let him do it… right here in his truck, parked above the cliffs. Audrey would have encouraged him to get them both out of every bit of their clothing just for the look on his face at the feel of her skin against his. Nathan could feel her, really feel her and it made her want to bury him in as much touch as she could. It made the simple feel of his hands on her skin overwhelmingly intense. Never in her life had she come so close to having sex in public.

It had been so hard to pull away from the heat of his fingers at the clasp of her bra. She could only imagine what it would do to her nerves when she finally got her fingers around the erection she felt while sitting in his lap. "To anything you want me to."

Just the look on his face sent a helpless shiver down her back. He was thinking about exactly what she was thinking about right now. And he wanted it almost as badly as she did by how hard he was squeezing the steering wheel and the look in his eyes. The low sound on his lips made it even harder not to move across this front seat and back into his arms. "Hold that thought and stay on your side of the car 'til we get there."

/Smart man.\\ One more touch and they just might have to make excuses to some uniform for inappropriate acts. Soon, very soon she'd be holding him, not the edge of this truck seat for dear life. "Just hurry it up then."

His eyes flicked across the seat at her and the smile on his lips made staying put very hard indeed. Audrey loved kissing him, wanted more of his touch, his taste. "Yes, ma'am."

/Down girl, no attacking the driver.\\ Forcing her hands just under the edge of her thighs, she let her eyes lock on his fingers at the wheel. Those strong, gentle hands had already set her on fire so easily. The pad of that thumb circling her nipple through her bra had made her mourn the fact that any fabric kept his skin from hers. Those fingers had burned against her throat, her back, her ribs. She desperately wanted to feel their heat all over her body, wanted to watch his face as she returned the favor.

Audrey had loved the feeling of his heart pounding under her hands and his body arching into her fingers. She couldn't wait to have every single inch of him bare under her hands, her lips. /You have no idea, Nathan, all the things I want to do with you.\\

"Your place or mine?" Hot eyes flicked across the front seat, warming her lips and her hands. Nathan wanted this… wanted her. It was so hard to stay still.

"Do you have any idea how thin the walls are at the bed and breakfast?" Audrey's hands clenched at the sudden heat in his face and the strangled sound on his lips. She buried her nails into the fabric of her jeans just to stay still. /Oh yes, Nathan, all you're imagining and more, the second I have you completely alone.\\

"Mine, then. Audrey…" The heat in his voice closed her eyes and sent shivers up and down her back. It was like he wanted her to make him crash this truck right now.

"Just drive, Nathan. Get us home." His eyes stayed on the road. Her eyes were exploring the lean, hot strength of the body behind the wheel. Nathan Wournos. She couldn't take her eyes off him. He was her friend, her partner, the only person she could trust, and he'd set her every sense tingling with pleasure at the simplest of touches. Audrey could only imagine how she'd feel with every inch of that lean, strong body against her own, the pleasure she'd feel at watching him feel. "And hurry,"

"Almost there," He took the next corner a little sharp and she braced one hand against the line of his thigh, feeling the muscles in his leg tighten through the jeans. "Get on your side of the car, Audrey. You're way too distracting to let you touch me right now." It was hard, very hard to pull that hand back and force her fingers to close around the strap of her seat belt. Speaking would have been absolutely impossible. Audrey managed a nod and sank her teeth into her lip to keep from groaning. Never had Haven seemed so damn big. You could see all of it without turning your head. So why the hell was she still in this truck instead of his bedroom? She closed her eyes, futilely trying some weird breathing technique to relax that she'd read about in some waiting room. /No jumping the driver, you can't kiss him if you're both dead in some car crash.\\ It was somehow a little easier to hold on when she couldn't see him. Time didn't seem to move at quite the slow pace. "Audrey?" /Finally,\\ Audrey's eyes were barely open before she was moving across the front seat toward him. Instead of reaching out for her hands, he held up a palm in a stop gesture. "Not here, inside. The next time I touch you, I'm not gonna be able to stop."

"Lead the way, then." She curled her fingers into fists and followed him out the driver's side door. They kept a painful two feet between them on the way up the stairs. She bit her lip to keep her hands off him while he got the front door unlocked and opened. He held the door for her and it was hard to get her eyes off his hands long enough to pass him on the way inside. The sound of him shutting and locking that door behind them cut some thread of her self control. "Nathan," Audrey found her body turning without any actual thought. Nathan seemed to have the same idea, meeting her with open arms and the low sweet sound of her name on his lips.

She would never get enough of his kiss or the feel of his arms around her.

000


	4. Getting Closer

Questioning Fate

By AnitaB

Chapter four: Getting Closer

She wasn't close enough. But then she could never be close enough to suit him. Audrey was covered from collar to wrist to heel, when what he needed was her skin against his. It was hard, so damn hard to give up the feel of her lips against his, to let her out of his arms for even a second. "Audrey," Nathan forced his hands off her skin, out of her hair to close on the curve of her hips. "I need you, I need your skin against mine. Please."

"Every single inch, Nathan." The warmth of her hands on his chest pulled back, left him cold as those beautiful fingers reached for her own buttons. "Take off your shirt." Now she was way too far away.

Nathan caught her fingers a few buttons down from her throat. "No, sweetheart, I want to do it. I've dreamed about getting you out of your clothes." He guided her hands back to his shoulders and stole a quick, soft kiss. "Don't hesitate to return the favor." It was very hard to concentrate on the tiny little discs in his fingers when her fingertips burned a delicate path down his throat and across his collarbone. "Audrey,"

"Hurry, Nathan." He loved the sound of his name on her lips, needed to taste her kiss and lose himself in the warm stroke of her lips. But if he kissed her again before he got her shirt out of his way, he'd lose control before he got enough of her skin. Nathan lifted one hand to rub his thumb across those soft, warm lips. He shook his head and tilted her chin up. A long, slow stroke of her fingers down his throat made his breath catch in his throat and her lips curve against his skin. "I want to touch you and I want you to touch me. So we need to lose the clothes. Hurry, please."

"Yes, ma'am." Nathan helpless claimed those warm lips and let his hands forget all those tiny little buttons. He'd buy her a new shirt later. Her tongue danced against his with a gasp as he ripped open the front of her shirt and started peeling it down the length of her arms. With a low, sweet chuckle Audrey deepened the kiss and returned the favor. The sound of buttons hitting his living room floor gave him a second's warning before her hands were dragging fire over his shoulders and down his arms. "That's my girl." They managed to pull back for just long enough to force still buttoned cuffs over their wrists. Then his skin was on fire as his Audrey wrapped every hungry inch of his skin in the heat of her touch. "Audrey," His arms pulled her closer before one hand reached out desperately for balance. So much heat, so much smooth, warm skin against his was weakening his knees. Nathan leaned her up against the wall and buried his face against the side of her throat just to keep his feet under him. "Audrey, you feel so damn good."

Her voice shook around a soft whisper of his name in the instant before sharp nails dug into his back. Pain had never felt so good. If she followed up the bite of her nails with the warm stroke of her hands just like this, he would happily sit still while she clawed every single inch of his back. Those warm fingers explored him, burning along the tense muscles of his shoulders to cup his face. "Nathan," Audrey brushed her lips over his, but pulled back before he could do more than taste the sweet sound of her voice. "If we don't get to bed, I'm going to take you right here on the floor. You deserve better for your first time, the first time feeling. Get us to bed, Nathan. Now."

She was right, so very right. Nathan was a nerve's ending from ripping the jeans from her hips and plunging the length of himself inside her just for the heat of her around him. "Hold on tight, Audrey, and don't wiggle unless you want me to take you against a wall." His hands dragged from the curve of her waist to the lean strength of her thighs. With a low, helpless sound, Nathan cradled her against his chest as her ankles crossed behind his back and her arms wrapped tight around his shoulders. "And we both deserve better than a hard and fast first time. This isn't just for me."

The sound on her lips made a kiss absolutely necessary. The taste and warmth of her made it impossible to pull back until she did, covering his reaching lips with one hand. "Get walking or prepare for rugburn. I'm serious, Nathan. Bed… now." Audrey tightened her arms around his neck and laid her head on his shoulder. Even the spill of her hair over his skin made it a little harder to concentrate on walking. But nothing, absolutely nothing would keep him from experiencing this time with her.

"Hold on, tight, Audrey. We're almost there." Her arms squeezed just a little tighter, but her hips didn't shift against his in the slightest. She was trying to help him keep control, at least until she spoke.

"I'm never letting go, Nathan. I thought you knew that." Nathan braced one arm under her hips and flattened the other hand against the middle of her back, both for the heat of her skin against his and to hold her tighter to his chest. Just a few more feet to go. He couldn't respond until he got her into bed or their first time together would happen right here on the floor outside his bedroom. Nathan merely held her closer and let a low groan shake his ribs against hers. He loved the tightening of her hands on his shoulders at the sound.

The bedroom door was suddenly in front of him. "Audrey," His lips found hers in the same movement that his body crowded hers back against his sheets. His hands, no longer responsible for her weight, took on the task of getting his partner out of her clothes. Bra first. Nathan needed to feel her sweet curves with nothing in the way, needed the softest skin he'd ever feel under his fingers. The clasp resisted a moment before giving way. His fingers were shaking as he brushed aside the cloth and finally cupped the curve of one breast in his palm. /So soft, so perfect, so fucking warm…\\ He wouldn't ever get enough of her under his fingers, in his hands, between his lips."Audrey… you feel…"

The words on his lips just stopped, but then they were too busy exploring the sweetest and softest of skin to bother speaking. /Audrey… so damned perfect.\\

000

It was a good thing that Audrey was on her back in the middle of his bed, because her knees wouldn't hold up even the weight of her badge when Nathan peeled the cotton and lace out of his way and cupped her in trembling, burning hot fingers. "Audrey… you feel…"

His voice… just the heat in his voice had her coming apart at the seams. The words on his lips and the knowledge that he was feeling this as much as she was… well that made her every single nerve burn hotter than they ever had before. And then to stoke the flames even higher he groaned a wordless rasp of sound before he stroked her breast with his tongue and explored with his lips. "Nathan," Her hands clutched at the back of his neck, her back arching to get him even a little bit closer. So good, he felt so good that she couldn't breathe past the heat of his touch. But it wasn't enough. Audrey wanted to touch him, to make his nerves burn like he was doing so easily to hers. If he made breathing impossible, how in the hell was she going to get enough control of herself to drive him mad with pleasure. "God, Nathan, please…"

"Audrey," His breath against her nipple drove a shiver down her back before his lips pressed over her heart and his hands dragged up her ribs to cup heat against both her breasts. "I need to feel you, sweetheart, every perfect inch. Give me more…" Those eyes burned up into hers while his fingers stroked every single sensitive inch of her skin. "So soft, so warm…" Nathan's eyes closed and his head dipped to replace one hand with just as thorough an exploration by his lips. She'd never heard of anyone dying of pleasure, but damned if Nathan didn't plan to try it out on her. "So damn delicious."

It was all she could do to try to return the favor. "Hmm, Nathan," Audrey forced her fingers open, sliding them down the hot, lean strength of his shoulders. She had to touch him, had to make him feel good, had to feel him… "Nathan, you feel…" Audrey rocked her hips against the lean strength of his rib and curled her legs around him. "So hot, so strong, so… mine." She adored the automatic thrust of his hips and tightening of his arms at her back. Audrey smiled and dragged her nails down the hard lines of his arms. "And if you don't let me touch you, I'm handcuffing you to your own bed and doing anything I want to you."

"Can't, sweetheart. I can't let you out of my hands yet, Audrey. Have to feel you, have to touch you." One hand spread wide against her waist, a spot that had never had that direct a connection to her pleasure centers before. "I need you, Audrey, I need more."

Every inch of her body felt the warmth of that palm on her skin, every nerve in her body pleaded to take him as hard and fast as she could. But the look in his eyes made her fight for self-control. "I'm here, Nathan. I'm yours. But I need you, too. I need to touch you back. I want to bury your every nerve in heat. Please, let me touch you." He shivered in her arms, lean muscles and smooth skin pressing harder against her body. "Nathan,"

Nathan moved. Audrey felt his hands close on her waist in the instant before she found herself sitting across his hips with her hands braced on his ribs. "Yes, Audrey, touch me. There's nothing I want more. But I need… I need my hands on you…" He slid those strong hands down her hips to cup the back of her knees against his ribs. Even through the jeans, the heat made her shiver and clutch at his shoulders. "I can't stop touching you." Audrey was being pulled down closer and it was all Nathan's fault even if his hands didn't move from the heated skin her thighs. His next words were close enough to taste. "You feel so damn good,"

Audrey need the kiss, needed to taste him on her tongue more than she needed air, water, or food. Claiming his lips, she held his face in her hands and desperately deepened the kiss. "Wouldn't want you to stop, Nathan. I just want my turn." It was hard to pull back, but somehow Audrey gave up his lips for the heat in his eyes. "You feel so damn good, Nathan." Locking her eyes to his, she spread her fingers wide and low against his stomach, the heels of her hands on the edge of his jeans. "I wanna feel every single inch of you." He was already shivering before her fingers shifted one inch. By the time her palms slowly climbed his ribs to cover his heart, Nathan was arching and groaning her name. When her fingers got to the tense line of his shoulders, his were bruising her hips through her jeans. She could feel the muscles of his arms tight and trembling under her hands as he clung to her waist and leaned up for a kiss. "I want you out of those jeans, Nathan."

The low, desperate noise on his lips made her hips rock and arch against his even as his fingers moved to her belt. "Yours first, Audrey. I want you naked and I want you naked now." The gorgeous body under hers shifted, moving her body enough to settle her across his stomach. Those hands fought her buckle, button and zipper while her hands clutched at the strength of his arms. "Lift up for me, sweetheart."

/Nathan…\\ She was helpless before the need in his hands, in his voice, moving to help the man under her strip the last of her clothes from her skin. Audrey found herself completely naked stretched out on his sheets as he stared down at her from his place kneeling between her ankles. The look on his face had her blood burning even before those hands reached for her skin. Long fingers curved around her ankle, lifting her calf into the heated stroke of his lips up her skin. "Nathan…" He smiled against the back of her knee, rubbing his cheek back and forth against the twitching muscle in her leg. "Oh, Nathan, please."

Audrey's hands fisted in the sheets as she fought to let him explore. It wasn't easy when every single nerve in her body was pleading to wrap her legs around his waist and drag him down into her arms and against her skin. She wanted to rip those jeans from his skin and ride him down onto these sheets just to feel him inside her. But this was for both of them. If Nathan wanted to explore, she'd handcuff herself to this headboard in order to let him. "That's my girl, my sweet, soft Audrey."

Audrey forced her hands to lock around the bars of the headboard and let him hear what the touch of his skin against hers was doing to her in the pleading sound of his name. She didn't know how long her self-control would last before she had to take him hard and fast. "Oh, Nathan, please."

000


	5. Every Gorgeous Inch

Questioning Fate

By AnitaB

Chapter five: Every gorgeous inch

He'd never in his life seen anything more beautiful than this. Every gorgeous inch of Audrey Parker was bare and stretched out across his sheets. This amazing woman was naked in his bed, asking for his touch. Nathan had to give it to her. And even a few seconds without her skin against his was too much for his nerves. Nathan was happily addicted to the warmth and texture of her skin against his. Climbing back onto the sheets, he let hungry fingers circle her ankle and rubbed the entire surface of his palm up the curve of her leg. He simply couldn't believe how soft she felt under his fingers.

Nathan needed more. Dipping his head, he dragged the stubbled line of his cheek back and forth against her calf until his tongue slid into the heat at the back of her knee. Salty and just a little sweet, and moaning his name as her entire body arched into his hands. /More, Audrey. Give me more.\\ Nathan's lips followed the inside of her thigh higher, lost in the soft perfection of her skin. If it wasn't impossible, he'd swear that she was softer and sweeter the higher he went. "Audrey," It was a theory he needed to test out. But Audrey couldn't move. Nathan dragged his hands up the outside of her thighs until his fingers locked on the curve of her hips to hold her still. Hot eyes stared down at him as strong little hands tightened on his headboard. He couldn't help but smile up at her from the top of her thigh. "I have to taste you, Audrey, have to feel you on my tongue."

Her eyes clenched and suddenly her hands weren't on the head board, they were on his shoulders. Nails sank into his skin at the same time as every single inch of her body arched under his. "Yes, Nathan, please. Then it's my turn." Just the thought of her soft tongue on his skin tightened his hands on her hips. She would make him come in an embarrassingly short time when her turn came. So he had to push her over the edge before he let her get anywhere near getting him out of his jeans.

"Hold on tight, Audrey. It's my turn right now." He'd planned to watch her face, to see what pleasure she was feeling. But that simply wasn't possible. The first stroke of his tongue between her legs made his eyes fall closed and his hands clench against her skin. She was… so damn soft and unbelievably sweet. Nathan would never get enough of the heat and soft, wet silk of her. He could happily spend forever feasting at her skin and listening to her voice break around his name. Every arch, every moan, every sharp little bite of her nails told him exactly what she liked and what she needed. Nathan wanted nothing more than to give her everything. One of his longest held fantasies was watching and hearing his Audrey climax in his arms, under his touch. He'd never even hoped to be able feel it too. "That's it, my sweet Audrey, show me how to touch you."

"Oh, please, Nathan. You know… ah, yes… you know how to touch me." Her thighs trembled against his face and neck as she arched under him. Her ankles rubbed up his sides as she shifted to give him even more access to her. "God, you feel so damn good. Please, more." Audrey's breath hitched when he smiled against the very core of her, her hands stroking through his hair with another gasp of his name. His Audrey wanted more. So did he. Nathan tightened his hands on her hips and plunged the length of his tongue into the warm depths of her body. "Nathan!" She was… he'd been right. Audrey got softer and sweeter the higher he got. And right here she was softer than he'd thought possible and sweeter than honey. Every inch of his skin was intensely jealous of his tongue. And no matter how hard she arched and trembled, he wasn't giving up the absolute gorgeous depths of her. Not ever. /More, Audrey, give me more.\\

Audrey was close, very close to that edge. He could feel it in the little helpless movements of her hips and the sharp bite of her nails at the back of his neck. He could hear it in the more and more breathless sound of his name. The gorgeous woman in his arms just needed a little more to push her over the edge. "Audrey, I want to feel you shatter for me. I want to taste it." Sliding one hand between her legs, Nathan pressed the length of two fingers as deep as they could go and wrapped his lips around her stiffened little peak. /Come for me, Audrey, come for me now.\\ With a deliberate curling of his fingers and a hard pull of lips and tongue, Nathan guided Audrey into orgasm, absolutely loving the broken scream of his name and the sudden tightening of every gorgeous muscle of her body against and around his. "Audrey," Lifting his head, he got lost in the sight of her face as pleasure rushed through her body. Nathan had done that to the gorgeous woman in his bed. He had given her that rush of heat, could feel the pulsing beat of that pleasure in the ripple of her around his fingers. "Sweet Audrey,"

Her body slowly relaxed under his, her hands smoothing along his arms instead of digging her nails into his shoulders. Her beautiful eyes finally opened and locked onto his filled with so much heat it made his hands shake. "Nathan… get up here." Her fingers tugged at him and he helplessly followed the pull up her body. "Hold me."

"Always," Nathan happily wrapped his arms around her and felt her arms and legs squeeze tight around him in return. When her chin lifted, he knew she wanted a kiss almost as much as he did. With a low, desperate sound, Audrey opened to his kiss and danced an eager tongue against his. He wanted more. "Audrey, please, sweetheart."

She laughed, low and sweet against his lips and her hips rocked and rubbed against his stomach. Nathan arched, trying to feel her better through his jeans. "My turn, now, Nathan. On your back, hands up." The roll to his back he could manage. She felt just as good above him as she did under him. But the hands up part was going to be harder, much harder. His fingers simply didn't want to give up the smooth, soft warmth of her skin. Dragging his palms up and down her back, Nathan tucked her close against his chest and leaned up for her kiss. Even as she shivered under his hands, his stubborn Audrey shook her head. "Hands up, Nathan, or no kiss. It's my turn."

"Audrey," He needed her skin under his hands, rubbing his fingertips around the stiffened peak of her breast just for the gasp on her lips and the arch of her back. "Please, love, I need to touch you, feel you." One hand slid down her side to the length of her thigh, guiding her up his body until his lips could reach the soft, sweet skin of her breasts. "You're so soft, so sweet." Stroking his tongue over her peaked nipple, Nathan pulled her closer for the renewed trembling of her muscles and the warmth of her skin. "Can't stop touching you, please, Audrey."

"Nathan," He loved that sound on her lips, pulling harder at her breast just to hear more need in her voice. "No, Nathan. It's my turn. Hands up or I'm getting our cuffs." She caught both his hands and twined her fingers through his. "I need to touch you, too. And there's no chance in hell I can concentrate with your hands on me." God, she was beautiful. And if she handcuffed him to this headboard, he'd have to go a lot longer without the heat of her under his fingers.

"No, no handcuffs. I'll be good." Nathan moved his hands up the sheets and let her fingers guide his around the bars. "I need to feel you, sweetheart."

Her smile tied his nerves in knots. Oh, she had plans for him and that little twist of lips told him his control was about to be on the chopping block. "That's the plan, Nathan. That's always the plan." Nathan was helpless before the press of her body against his and the deep, heated claim of her lips against his.

/Damn, Audrey. What are you doing to me?\\

000

She'd never come so hard or so fast in her life. And it wasn't just because it had been a very long time since anyone had touched her at all. It was Nathan. He could do such powerful things to her nerves with a simple chaste kiss. And then he had done so many things, things that were nothing simple or chaste, that had wound her up even tighter. Audrey knew she'd never, ever forget the sound of her name whispered against her most intimate and sensitive skin. In his voice. /God, Nathan, do you have any idea what you can do to me?\\

She had to give that intense and powerful pleasure back to him. And to do that, Audrey needed him out from between her legs and his hands off her skin. Nathan was going to let her have her turn… no matter what.

Even that pleading sound in his voice and the hot, delightful strength of his hands on her breasts weren't going to change her mind. Audrey groaned low in her throat, knowing he'd give her exactly what she wanted if she was clear about it. "I need to touch you, too. And there's no chance in hell I can concentrate with your hands on me." His strong fingers squeezed hers as that long, lean body arched against her skin. Audrey could see the wheels spinning in his head, weighing the options. She knew what he'd decided before he spoke by the slow stretch of their hands above his head.

"No, no handcuffs. I'll be good." His eyes locked on her lips as he licked his owned. "I need to feel you, sweetheart."

She curled his fingers around the headboard and found herself smiling. Audrey couldn't hold back against the heat and need in his face. "That's the plan, Nathan. That's always the plan." She pressed every inch of her body closer against his chest and claimed his kiss, plunging an eager tongue past his lips. /More, Nathan, more of you, more of this.\\

Audrey loved the taste and feel of him kissing her back, adored the tension in every long, lean muscle, fucking treasured the feel of her Nathan's need against her skin. But hot damn, those jeans needed to go. /Not yet,\\ He'd teased her, when she'd been the one clinging to the headboard. Nathan deserved to feel everything just as powerfully as her control could manage.

"Hmm, Nathan," Audrey weakly pulled back from his lips and slowly dragged both her hands along every inch of his arms from wrists to shoulders, trailing just a hint of her nails over his pulse and the bend of his elbows. Before her eyes, he arched, trembled, and groaned, the headboard creaking in his grip. And all that just from her hands on his arms. "That's my boy, you feel that, don't you?"

"Audrey, please." She helplessly obeyed the heat of his eyes on her lips, leaning down for a quick hard kiss before sitting up across his hips. Those hot eyes flicked down her body to the curve of her breasts while she watched his hands clench hard. Her Nathan was thinking about her body, and he liked what he was thinking. Audrey knew she was smiling as she rocked her hips against the front of his, leaning forward a bit to improve his view of her cleavage. Her fingers followed the line of his throat as he swallowed, just a little less in control as he sank teeth into his lower lip. He wanted his mouth on her breast. And so did she. But not just now.

It was her turn. "Hold on tight, Nathan. It's my turn to explore, to touch and taste you." Audrey dipped her head, brushing her lips against the heavy pulse in his throat. "God, I've wanted to touch you, really touch you for so long." Closing her eyes, she stroked the tip of her tongue into the hollow above his collarbone. She'd spent months listening to his voice. Audrey had adored the way he sounded saying her name and now she fucking loved the feel of it vibrating her lips. But now so much more of him was available to taste, kiss, and explore. She wanted every inch of him under her lips, under her hands. And she wanted it now.

"Audrey," Nathan's back arched, leading her lips down heaving ribs. Audrey was smiling, resting her hands on the clenching muscles of his stomach to look up at him. "Please, honey. I'm gonna explode if you keep going this slow. I need to feel you, Audrey. I'm dying to feel you, all of you against all of me."

"Faster, huh? Do you need more, Nathan?" Audrey watched his face as she stroked the tip of her tongue quickly over his nipple. The headboard groaned in his hands and his hips jerked and arched upward. "Not slow, right?" Now she slowly circled that little peak with her tongue before wrapping her lips around it and pulling gently. Now it was Nathan groaning under her lips and his hands burying themselves in her hair.

"Audrey," She found herself dragged up his body to happily accept a deep, hard kiss. His arms wrapped so tight around her waist that she could feel every little shiver of his muscles against her skin. "My sweet Audrey," His heart was racing against her ribs as his hands clutched at her back. "I'm dying to feel you sweetheart, I need to touch you."

"I need to touch you, too." His fingers slid along her skin, trying to pull her higher along his chest. /Nope, my Nathan, wrong way.\\ Shaking her head, Audrey grabbed his wrists and led his hands up to place a kiss and a lick in each of his palms. "And I want you out of those jeans. Not fair I'm the only one naked here." She loved the rock of his hips under hers. "Now hold on tight." The sound on his lips was nothing resembling a word, but his hands obediently closed on the headboard. "Good boy," Her fingers stumbled a little on his belt but that was only because of the heat in his eyes. The button was a little easier because his eyes locked on her hands. The wordless sound on his lips made her fingertips slow down on his zipper just to draw out the low growl a little longer. "Good Nathan, almost there."

This close to her goal, Audrey couldn't hold back any longer. She needed Nathan in her hands, needed to see his face when he finally felt that intimate touch. "Audrey, please." A smile on her lips, she dragged his jeans out of the way and wrapped all ten fingers around the hard length of him. He felt so good in her hands but nothing, absolutely nothing was better than the utter shock on his face and the breathless grip of his hands on her shoulders. Nathan could feel her, could feel pleasure at her touch, her kiss. And there was nothing she wanted to give him more.

"Nathan," Audrey watched his eyes close and his neck arch. /That's my boy, get lost in how this feels.\\ One slow stroke of her fingers up his length followed another. By the third move of her palms against the softest skin she'd ever felt, Nathan was gasping her name and thrusting into her hands. He had no idea that this… this was only the beginning. "Remember to breathe." Audrey shifted her body lower against his knees, dipping her head to flick her tongue over the very tip of his erection.

He was breathing alright, but not normally. "Aud…oh, sweet fuck… Audrey." Audrey found herself smiling, putting one hand over the fist of his in the sheets. When his fingers locked through hers, she pushed him a little further. Audrey locked her eyes to his and pulled the length of him into her mouth as deep as she could. "Audrey… please." He was … so gorgeous. Audrey adored the heat and need in his face, the strength of his fingers against hers. Nathan was lost in the feel of this moment. She never wanted to let him go again.

Moaning low in her throat, Audrey threw herself into the act of pleasing Nathan. She could lay here all night if he kept almost managing her name and stroking the tips of his fingers over her cheek. Audrey was going to be far more interested in oral sex than she ever had before, just for the sight of that look on his face. "Come on, Nathan, you're close, aren't you? Come for me."

He seemed to stop fighting the sensation, cupping both hands around her jaw and avidly watching himself disappear between her lips. The first thrust of his hips had them both groaning at the heat between them. /That's it, Nathan. Right here with me.\\

000


	6. Stay Always

Questioning Fate

By AnitaB

Chapter six: Stay… Always

/Oh glorious hell.\\ This amazing woman was trying to kill him. And good God she was about to succeed on all counts. The first touch of Audrey's fingers around his length and Nathan thought his brains were about to leak out his ears. He wanted to watch, wanted to always remember the sight of those gorgeous hands touching him. But there wasn't a chance in hell. The heat threw his head back, clenched his eyes, and dragged her name from his lips. /So warm, so soft. So damn tight. Please, Audrey, more.\\

Her voice was soft and warm, but the words didn't make it through the haze of pleasure she had rushing over his skin. Then it didn't matter because that perfect woman was flicking her tongue across the most sensitive nerves in his entire body. Nathan knew he was yelling something, knew he was about to rip holes in his sheets with his bare hands, knew he'd never, ever get enough of Audrey exactly like this.

Strong fingers covered his, sliding warm and small between his. Nathan managed to get his eyes open just in time to see her smile and watch her beautiful lips close around him. /Sweet Audrey, my beautiful Audrey.\\

She felt… so fucking good. He couldn't breathe. Nathan knew, deep, deep down that if he shifted one muscle right now, he would helplessly thrust into that pretty mouth, into the hot, wet heaven of her. /No, not hurting her. I can't lose her, can't push this.\\ Nathan treasured the low, soft sound on her lips, loving the feel of it vibrating along his aching nerves. Forcing one hand out of his sheets, he cupped those fingers around the line of her jaw and watched the heat in her eyes build with every slow stroke. "Audrey,"

His fingers stayed on her cheek as her lips left his skin. "Come on, Nathan, you're close, aren't you? Come for me." She meant it. His Audrey wanted him to lose control, wanted to give him that freedom and pleasure.

And he wanted to give her anything and everything she ever wanted. Nathan fought for breath, cupped both hands around that precious face, and carefully thrust himself over that amazing tongue with a groan. Her matching groan made his heart pound even harder. But nothing was going to make him give up this sight. He needed to see her, to know she was loving this as much as he was just a little more than he needed to watch her gorgeous lips move against his shaft. "So close, Audrey, so good."

The next thrust wrapped his nerves even tighter, especially when the low, soft sound in her throat thrummed up his skin. He was close, so close it was hard to keep his eyes open. So close he couldn't breathe, couldn't make his lips shape her name. Nathan buried one hand in her hair and let his every nerve focus on the soft, hot heaven of her mouth. He could feel his heart pounding under the stroke of her agile little tongue. He was balanced on the edge of something huge. And then his gorgeous Audrey pushed him right over that fragile line by weaving her fingers through his and squeezing in time with the helpless thrusts of his hips.

She was drowning him in heat. Nathan could feel the rush of pleasure along every single nerve in his body. He could hear his own voice shouting her name. He could feel her hand in his, her skin under his fingers. But all he could see was the inside of his own eyelids as Audrey owned him, his body arching into the gorgeous heat of her.

When he finally surfaced, she was still the center of this small universe. Her body was still curled over his legs, her fingers still clutched his. The point of her chin dug into his stomach and he knew even before he got his eyes open that she was watching his face for the pleasure she'd given him. And she still wasn't close enough.

"God, Nathan, that was… beautiful." Her voice was shaking a little, but his hands were shaking even more as they tried to pull her closer by their joined hands.

/Yes, you are.\\ Nathan fought his eyes open to stare down his chest at the simply gorgeous woman sprawled across his hips. He wanted her closer, needed a kiss, and was desperate to get his arms around her. "Audrey, you are beautiful, so damn beautiful. Now get up here." He tugged on her hand again, wrapping his other arm around her the second she was far enough up his chest. The moment she was within range, Nathan buried a hand in her hair and claimed her lips for a slow, deep kiss.

Audrey kissed him back eagerly, her body shifting to touch as much of his as possible. He held her tighter, drinking the taste of himself on her lips. Nathan couldn't stop moving, couldn't get enough of her skin against his. He loved the grip of her arms around him and the shift of her muscles under her skin. He loved the sharp bite of her nails and the smooth strength of her thighs against his ribs. He fucking adored sound of his name on her lips and the helpless trembling of her body against his.

Audrey still wasn't close enough. Nathan needed to feel her as close as he could get her. Right now. He forced himself back from her lips with a low groan, his fingers cupping the warm curve of her cheek. "Nathan," Her voice caught in her throat as he drew a line down the arched length of skin with his fingertips. "Please, Nathan, I need… ah, yes… I need to feel you… closer, please."

Her hips were rocking against his, rubbing unbelievable softness and warmth over his skin. So damn close to where he wanted, needed to feel her. And even more amazing to his touch-addled mind was that this amazing woman seemed to want him just as badly as he wanted her. "You'll have me, Audrey, all of me. There's nothing I want more than to feel you closer."

Nathan wrapped his arms tight around her waist, pulling her harder against his chest. Rolling her to her back, he got distracted by the sight of her smile and her hair tangling over his pillow. Audrey was here, really here. She was in his arms, in his bed, smiling up at him and running her fingers through his hair. Audrey was really here with him. Words were beyond him as he cupped that precious face in his hands and pressed a deep and heart-felt kiss to her gorgeous lips. Her ankles crossed behind his back, strong little hands clinging to his back. "Hmm, Nathan, it's time. No more teasing. Just get in here." Audrey's voice was shaking almost as hard as his hands on her skin. Her hips rocked under his, rubbing against his erection with a mind-bending heat. "I need you, Nathan. Come inside."

Forcing his eyes open, Nathan locked his gaze on her face and braced his weight on his elbows. "Take me, Audrey, guide me home." It was hard to hold her gaze as her fingers circled his length, even harder as the first inch of him sank inside her. So hot, so wet, and so fucking soft he thought he was going to lose his mind before he got all the way inside her.

"Your turn, Nathan. Take me." His Audrey was breathless as her arms curled tight around his neck and her eyes fluttered. "Need to feel you… deeper." He managed a moment's hesitation, just until her eyes got back to his face and then he gave in. Audrey owned him; body, heart, mind, and soul. And his Audrey would get anything she wanted, especially when she wanted him. One thrust of his hips buried him full length in heaven and it was all he could do to watch the pleasure on her face while drowning in his own. "Nathan…"

He needed a kiss, needed to taste the sound of his name on her lips, needed to make this moment so real, so intimate that neither one of them would ever forget this first joining, this first connection. "I love you, Audrey."

Her eyes widened, her nails clenched hard and sharp into the back of his neck, and he could feel her reaction to his words along every inch of his skin. It was beautiful, so beautiful he couldn't breathe even before she managed the words he could already see in her eyes. "I love you, too, Nathan, so much." He was kissing her before the last word made it off her lips, drinking her taste and the agile dance of her tongue against his.

He needed this, every day for the rest of his life. He needed this woman in his arms, at his side, kissing him and telling him she loved him. He needed her skin against his, her warmth wrapped around every cold, lonely inch of him. Nathan was never, ever letting her go again. Audrey was his. Weakly breaking the kiss, Nathan cupped her face in his hands and helplessly whispered her name with the first slow, careful pull back and thrust of his hips. "Audrey, my Audrey, my love."

000

This wasn't her first rodeo. But never in her entire life had Audrey been so desperate to feel a man inside her. She wanted him, needed him closer. She was going to die of a heart attack right here in his bed if she couldn't hold him as close and as deep as she wanted him, right fucking now.

And he was so close to being exactly where she wanted him. Nathan was hot, hard, and rubbing high between her thighs. And his voice was making her hands shake even as she wrapped that erection in her fingers and guided just the tip of him inside her. She wanted the thrust, wanted to feel every gorgeous muscle in his body move to claim her. Weakly locking her arms around his neck, Audrey fought the amazing feel of him almost home to get her eyes back to his face. She knew she was talking, but the words on her lips were the least important thing in this moment. His face mattered, his arms bracing his body above hers mattered. That first hard, deep plunge of his length inside her mattered. His name on her lips mattered.

/Oh, fuck, yes, finally.\\ No one had ever felt this good. No one had stared into her eyes, held perfectly still and deliciously deep inside her and tried to kill her with the most beautiful words in the English language. "I love you, Audrey."

She wouldn't have believed anyone else. But this was Nathan. Her Nathan was inside her, staring into her face with such heat and need and caring that she couldn't help but believe him. /Nathan loves me,\\ Audrey was amazed and so happy she couldn't breathe. But she would have to manage it, at least enough to speak. She pulled him even closer and gasped almost against his lips. "I love you, too, Nathan, so much."

She happily got lost in his kiss, trying to show him with every inch of her body that she meant it. She'd never meant anything more. When he pulled back, she knew what was coming before the first real thrust of his hips was perfectly timed to her name on his lips. /Yes, my Nathan, my love.\\

She wasn't going to last long. He just felt too damn good to leave her even an ounce of self-control. Audrey helplessly met every thrust of his hips with an arch of her own. He felt so… he was so hard, so deep inside her. Nothing had ever felt better than Nathan did inside her and she wanted more of him. Audrey tightened her legs around his waist and buried her nails low in his back. The next plunge of his hips was just a little harder, but not hard enough. She wanted to feel him, every inch of his erection, every ounce of the strength she knew this long, lean body was capable of. Audrey didn't want him to hold anything back from her, not ever.

Dragging one hand up the center of his back to his hair, Audrey pulled his head back enough to see his eyes. He looked almost panicked, but his voice carried a low pleasured growl. "Audrey, please, love."

"What do you need, Nathan? I'll give you anything you need." Her hips arched into his and this time it was her turn to watch his eyes almost close with pleasure, her turn to feel reaction move through his body. /Come on, Nathan, tell me.\\

"I need… more of you… I need to… feel you, Audrey." He was shaking in her arms, fighting to control the force of his thrusts, to gentle the dance of their hips. /No way, Nate, we have time for easy later.\\

Audrey knew she was smiling even as she wrapped her legs so tight around his hips that he couldn't pull back even an inch and held him there, deep and still. "I need you to let go. I want to feel every inch of you as deep as I can. I want you to fill me up, hard and fast. I need you to stop holding back from me, Nathan. Show me how much you need this, because I promise it isn't even a little more than I need you." Audrey squeezed her legs around him, groaning at the helpless movement of his body against hers, inside hers. /That's it, Nathan.\\ His forehead rested on hers and his lips ghosted a kiss on her mouth. "No holding back. I want all of you."

"Hold on, baby." Nathan braced one arm in the sheets, twining his fingers through her hair. The other arms curled tight around her waist and pulled her hips harder against his own, seating his erection just a little deeper with a smile and a groan. No one had ever been that deep before and it was perfection. "God you feel so good."

The first hard plunge of his body into hers was heaven. The second and third thrusts had her nails digging into his shoulders and her body trembling helplessly in his arms. "Yes, Nathan, more of you." By thrust number seven, Audrey was clinging to the headboard to keep from drawing blood on the hard muscles of his back. Her back arched even higher when he moved one hand to cup her breast and nibbled a line of little bites along her skin to suck hard at the hollow of her throat. "Please, Nathan,"

"I've got you, Audrey." He smiled up at her before kissing and licking his way to her breasts, his hands gripping and guiding her hips against his. The angle changed enough to let him press deeper with a low, harsh growl. "I want you feel you come around me, want to watch it on your face, Audrey. You are so damn beautiful when you come." That agile tongue circled and stroked her nipple while his eyes stayed locked on her face. Every single push of his body into hers brought her closer to that climax he wanted to feel, to watch.

One more little shift of his hands and the next thrust of his hips against hers rubbed the tip of him over that spot inside her. "Nathan, there, right there. Harder, please." He smiled against her heart and tightened his hands at the small of her back. Nathan kept her at the perfect angle and plunged every gorgeous inch of his shaft into the heat of her body, running over that spot on the way in and the way out with every thrust. He was about to shove her right over that edge again. But this time she was determined not to go alone. "With me, Nathan, so close. I want to feel you come with me."

Desperate eyes locked with hers and Audrey knew he was close too. Much closer than he let on. With a smile, she pried her fingers from the headboard and stroked the tips ever so lightly along his face and down to his shoulders. He shivered and arched under her hands, his grip clenching on her hips. "Audrey," The next thrust was so deep that every muscle in her body jolted and tightened, rippling around him. "Sweet Audrey, you feel…"

"Hmm, yes, you felt that too, didn't you?" Audrey was breathless but still smiling. "Just think, Nathan, how it'll feel when we go up together. Every tingle, every thrust, every ripple. Every little bit of heat." She arched against him, using every muscle in her body to try to pull him just a little closer. She could feel him feel it in the helpless arching of his body harder between her legs. "Do you want to feel it? 'Cause I do. I want it more than anything."

He snapped. Some last little line of his self-control vaporized and she loved it. Audrey found herself pulled up across his hips as he knelt in the middle of the bed. "Audrey," Nathan tightened his hands on her back and thrust up hard and deep between her thighs, shoving every single inch of his erection home and growling her name against her lips. Audrey delighted in the feeling of it, clinging to his strong shoulders and riding the rhythm of his body into hers. The wave built, rising in them both until his fingers pinned her hips to his for a series of deep thrusts right against that bundle of nerves. Then it crashed and she helplessly watched the pleasure on his face for the second or two before it hit all her nerves all at once.

She barely heard his desperate shout of her name over the blood rushing in her ears. Audrey knew she must have drawn blood on his back and she knew she'd screamed his name as the climax rushed along her skin like heat. When she surfaced, it was to the warmth of his arms holding her close and the sound of his heart pounding under her ear. Weakly pushing off his chest, Audrey stared down at him, loving the pleasure still written all over his face. "Nathan," She leaned down for a slow, sweet kiss, thrilling at the weak grip of his hand in her hair and the need on his tongue. His other arm locked around her waist, keeping her body connected to his when she would have shifted off his hips.

"Stay, Audrey, stay right here." He helped her get the angle she wanted for the kiss, holding her even closer when they pulled back for air. "I want you to stay, right here in my arms."

"Always," She never wanted to leave anyway.

000


	7. Still Not Enough

Questioning Fate

By AnitaB

Chapter seven: Still Not Enough

She was killing him, so fucking deliciously. Audrey was burying him in heat, gorgeous heat. With every single little move of her body, every dark, sweet word on her lips. She was trying to break him into tiny little pieces with her heat, her skin, her love. God, he loved this woman, would do anything to keep her this close, to always be able to wrap her in his arms. If he hurt her or scared her…

/No. Never. I can't.\\ Nathan held onto the last edge of his crumbling self control with every ounce of strength he had left. He couldn't let himself ever hurt her. But she was whispering to him, holding him mind-bendingly tight with every soft, smooth… and warm inch of her body. "Do you want to feel it? 'Cause I do. I want it more than anything."

/Yes, yes I want it.\\ There was no holding back when Audrey wanted him out of control as much as he wanted to let go. All he managed was a low, helpless groan of her name before his body moved completely on its own to feel even a little more of her. Nathan still wasn't deep enough inside her. Dragging her hips over his, he knew he had to be bruising her with his grip. But the sharp bite of her nails in his back proved beyond a doubt that she didn't mind. Audrey was clinging to him, making the most beautiful little sounds with every hard thrust of his body into hers. He was almost deep enough, almost close enough to the amazing woman surrounding him. /Almost there, just a little more.\\

It was coming, that gorgeous feeling that she'd buried him in before. It was so close he could feel each and every nerve in his body melting. He could feel his own muscles clenching and tightening. It was rising in her too, sweet curves trembling harder with each thrust of their bodies. So deliciously close, just like his Audrey. Nathan needed to feel her climax, to feel it in every beautiful inch of the body holding him so close and so warm. He wanted her to come with him, needed it. Nathan clenched his hands on the curve of her hips, angling her body against his to put the very tip of his erection right against that sweet little bundle of nerves inside her for the hard, deep thrusts of his length inside her. /Come on, Audrey, I want this, I need it. Come with me.\\

It crashed through his nerves an instant before the wave found her. Together they burned. For an endless moment that felt like it lasted forever, Nathan was only feeling. He could barely hear her voice wrapped around his name. He could barely taste her kiss on his tongue, his lips. But he could feel every single inch of his skin, every nerve in his body… and in hers.

He felt the bite of her nails sinking deep into his back in the moment he buried himself deeper inside her than he'd ever been. And he didn't want to ever come back out. His every muscle was weak but his arms stayed strong. Nathan pinned her to his body as he collapsed backward onto the sheets. 'Cause he wasn't letting go of her anytime soon. Nathan would never let her out of his arms again if he could help it. Wrapping his exhausted but still hungry nerves in the warmth of her skin, he tried to catch his breath.

And then his Audrey shifted in his arms, pulling back despite the automatic tightening of his arms. Then she whispered his name and leaned down for a kiss. He was lost in her lips, but not about to let her shift any further away. Nathan wrapped an arm tight around her hips, keeping himself buried full-length in the warmth of her. "Stay, Audrey. Stay right here." He deepened the kiss, holding her even closer as her tongue teased and warmed his. "I want you to stay, right here in my arms."

The stroke of her fingers along his jaw had his breath catching in his throat. Then her answer tried to stop his heart. "Always." Audrey cuddled down into his arms and he finally, finally believed that he really had her. Audrey was in his arms, and he was going to get to keep her there.

Damn, he was actually going to have to thank Duke for this, maybe even get the damn man a present. But Audrey was more than worth it. Just the thought of handing the former conman a brightly wrapped package made him laugh low in his throat.

Audrey couldn't help but hear it with her ear tucked against his shoulder. "Something funny?" He opened his arms just enough to let her prop herself up slightly on his chest, a soft smile on her lips.

"Yes and no." Nathan let his eyes and the pad of his thumb stroke over the sweet curve of her lips. "Duke's never going to let me live it down when I give him the thank you I owe him."

"He knew, didn't he… about this?" Audrey cupped one hand against his jaw for the helpless reaction of him nuzzling into her palm. "That's why he was teasing the hell out of both of us the past week?"

"That's why he kept touching you. To remind me that I wasn't the only one who could feel you." Nathan rubbed both hands up and down her back. "To show me what I was missing, what I could lose."

"You told him first, before me?" Audrey's eyebrow rose and her smile disappeared.

"No, not really. I asked him, hypothetically and quite awhile back, if someone like me feeling one specific person was fate. At the time, he thought I meant Jess. He confronted me at the docks that day about it being you." He hadn't really told Duke. He hadn't told anybody, not until her.

He felt the sharp little sting of her hand smacking him hard in the shoulder and flinched. But there was no way he was taking his eyes off her face. This mattered so much more than her handprint on his skin. "And Duke told you to tell me, didn't he? He tried to make you see sense before he resorted to game playing." She hit him again, a little harder. "But you didn't listen, did you, Nathan? You just went all stubborn and quiet and hid again." A third hit came with the beginnings of a smile on her lips.

Nathan caught that mean little hand and dragged it to his lips, kissing her knuckles. "I wouldn't call what we just did quiet or hiding, Audrey." He stroked the tip of his tongue against the inside of her wrist as much for the taste and warmth of her skin as for the shiver along her nerves. "Would you?"

Her back arched, rubbing the soft skin of her breasts against his chest. "No, I … ah… I wouldn't." Her eyes locked to his mouth and he helplessly kissed his way across her palm to her fingertips, watching her own tongue swipe across his favorite lips in the world. He'd give her the kiss she wanted, all she had to do was ask. 'Til then he'd see just what he could do to her with just his mouth on her hand. Such soft skin and sweet little fingers. "But we could have… mm…Nathan… could have done this weeks ago if you'd just told me." He nibbled her fingertips before soothing the skin with the brush of his lips, loving the way her eyes fluttered before closing entirely. "So much wasted time."

Her body leaned lower against his, the last whispered word almost brushing their joined hands. Still he waited for her eyes to make it open. God, she was so beautiful, and was all his. "So let's not waste any more time, Audrey."

"So kiss me, Nathan, no more waiting." Now it was his eyes closing when she cupped a hand against his jaw and reached for his lips with her own.

Nothing, nothing was better than this moment, this peaceful kiss and the warm silk of her skin against so much of his. And because of this special woman, because of something amazing and miraculous about the woman he loved, he could feel every little bit of it. If he had his way, he'd always get to feel her. Nathan slid one hand into the warm silk of her hair and angled her head to slowly deepen the kiss.

This was heaven.

000

What a day…

Audrey would have bet her life that the events of today were impossible, that they wouldn't happen in a million years. Not even in Haven. And Nathan was right about something. Duke was never going to let them forget his help in this whole process and Nathan owed him a lot more than a thank you. They both did. If Duke wasn't smart and determined, if he hadn't figured it out and interfered… well, then she wouldn't be where she was right now.

And she wouldn't give up where she was right now for the world.

Audrey was in Nathan's bed, in Nathan's arms, feeling excited, exhausted, and far too wired to sleep just yet. Sighing quietly, she cuddled closer against the line of his chest, adoring the automatic and sleepy tightening of his arms around her waist. Nathan could feel her. Even in his sleep he felt and responded to her touch.

His nerves acknowledged her when pain, injury, truck doors, and everyone else in the world simply weren't worth noticing. It was the first time since hitting town that she had damn well loved the idea of being one of the troubled herself. If her gift or curse or whatever it was let her put that look on his face, well that was worth anything and everything.

And for his love and the ability to wrap herself in his touch, to feel him, warm and strong and safe against her skin… that was worth more than she had the words to describe.

Audrey smiled and trailed the very tips of her fingers along the line of his throat, down to his shoulder and over his chest to his heart. The slightest little shivering in his muscles followed the contact of her skin against his. Too slight, really. She'd been touching him since he had fallen asleep and every other response had been bigger than that one, even to smaller touches. "You're awake, aren't you, Nathan?"

"A little," He smiled and gave her eyes that weren't sleepy in the slightest. "How could I sleep when you feel so damn good in my arms."

He had a point there. It was the delicious feeling of his skin against hers that was part of why she wasn't sleeping. And she hadn't felt all of him yet, not really. It wasn't quite time for yet another round, but that didn't mean she couldn't touch him. "I know how you feel." Audrey wiggled a little, pushing him back with both hands on his chest. "Roll onto your stomach, Nathan."

He paused, his arms tightening around her waist. "What are you thinking, Audrey?"

"That I haven't touched you enough yet. That I haven't touched all of you." Just his hands tightened this time, ten rough fingertips making the tiniest of circles against her skin. Now she was the one shivering all over at the smallest of skin contact. "And that I want to. So get on your stomach, Nathan, if you want me to touch you."

He swallowed, hard and then moved faster than she'd ever seen him manage before. She'd barely blinked and Nathan was on his stomach in the middle of the bed, arms out to his sides and a low almost desperate sound on his lips. "Please, Audrey."

"Remember to breathe," Audrey couldn't help smiling as she climbed across the small of his back and settled her weight against his hips. The smile only got wider when his hands clenched in the sheets. "And relax. I don't want you all tense and hurting yourself." She walked two fingertips ever so slowly up his spine, her eyes locked on his hands. "So open those fingers if you want more touch." It took long enough for his muscles to loosen that hers tightened up. She couldn't touch him like she wanted to until he relaxed. "That's my good boy."

Audrey stared down at him a moment, exploring the gorgeous lines of his back with her eyes first. He was… very well put together, simply yummy. Every inch of this lean, strong body beneath hers was beautiful, and hers. Nathan wanted her hands on his skin, her lips and nails seeking out his most sensitive nerves. And that's what she wanted too. Audrey leaned forward and braced both hands on his shoulders. His arms tightened up then relaxed against the sheets. A slow stroke of her wide-spread fingers down his back had his hips shifting under hers. "Aud…Audrey…"

"I've got you, Nathan. How do you want it? Harder or softer? Faster or slower?" She dug her hands hard into a knot between his shoulder blades just for the groan on his lips and the arch of his back. "Tell me, Nathan."

"Just… more. More skin, every inch. All of it, Audrey. Touch me… any way you want to." Audrey changed to a lighter touch, dragging just her fingertips along his ribs. Maybe he was ticklish, but really she just wanted to give him every single kind of touch she could. Under her fingers, he shivered and arched, caught between trying to get closer and trying to escape. The next touch was firmer. Audrey pressed the heels of her hands just above his hips and dragged them slowly up his back to circle his shoulder blades. She loved the feel of his body moving under her hands, adored every shift and arch of his back into the stroke of her fingers. Audrey stared down at the smooth, warm skin of his back, trailing her fingertips ever so lightly over the scratches she'd left on his shoulders.

"Did I hurt you, Nathan? Did you feel these?"

The sound low in his chest was something between a purr and a groan. It was happy enough that she had an idea what his answer was before he turned his head and smiled. "Felt them? Oh, yes, definitely. Did it hurt? No." She helpless twined her fingers into his, squeezing back at his grip. "I loved feeling your nails in my skin. You can scratch me any damn time you want."

There was no way in hell she could keep any distance between them at the look on his face and the heat of his skin. "Nathan," Audrey leaned down for a kiss, pressing every inch of her naked upper body along his back. His response was simply gorgeous. Every muscle in his body pressed closer against hers. His hands tightened, his arms pulling hers forward to wrap around his chest for just a few more inches of contact. Never, at any point, did he stop the dance of their lips and the plunge of his tongue. Audrey made a soft, helpless sound into the kiss and moved to feel him even closer. She intertwined her legs with his, sliding her palms up and down his arms, determined not to miss a single inch of him.

The need for air drove her back just long enough for his hands to reclaim hers, fingers intertwining to the moan of her name. "Audrey, please…"

/Nope, Nathan. I'm not letting you distract me.\\ It was hard, but she forced herself away from his lips. Audrey wasn't done with him yet, no matter how much she loved kissing him. "Nathan, stretch out."

"Audrey," Those gorgeous eyes closed at the brush of her lips over his shoulder.

"Come on, Nathan, you tense up, I stop." Audrey pressed a kiss to the back of his neck and licked a hard bump of his spine. She couldn't help a grin against his shoulder at the helpless sound and the sharp arching of his back. "Do you want me to stop?"

"No, don't stop." Nathan released her hands, stretching his arms up to wrap strong fingers around the headboard. "More, Audrey, please."

"That's my good boy. I've got you." Audrey smiled into a slow line of kisses down his back, each touch of her lips causing little tremors in his muscles. It still wasn't enough. She played the events of the night through her mind, looking for missed touching opportunities. Nathan deserved every possible sensation. Audrey slid all ten fingers into his hair and kneaded his scalp to the sound of his breathless groan. "More?"

"Hmm," Taking the pleasured noises and the rubbing of his head into her hands as a yes, Audrey continued the firm stroke of her hands down the back of his neck and across his shoulders. Leaning forward, she searched for every inch of tension in the flexing muscles of his arms, dragging her nails lightly back over his biceps to his shoulders. "Audrey… please, sweetheart."

"What do you need, my Nathan? What do you want to feel?" Audrey rubbed her breasts against his back just for the vibration of his low groan against her ribs. "Tell me."

"You, Audrey, just you." He moved and Audrey found herself pinned under a broad chest with her legs curling around his hips. Maybe it was time for the next round already.

"I will be finishing that back rub later. I'm not done with you yet, Nathan."

"Later, anything you want, now it's my turn to touch you." He made good on his words, one strong hand dragging up the length of her back to pull her body flush against his as his lips reclaimed hers.

/It's a deal.\\ The words meant to surface but her tongue was a little too busy right now.

000


	8. Small town gossip and some pancakes

I own nothing and make no money. No infringement is intended.

Questioning Fate

By AnitaB

Chapter eight: Small town gossip and some pancakes

He had wanted to stay in bed forever. And he knew exactly why. Audrey. Nathan smiled at just the way her name sounded inside his head. He'd never thought that word with so many pleasant nuances before last night. /Audrey,\\ Nathan tried to wipe the smile off his face, but knew there wasn't a chance in hell of it staying gone. Not when he only had to let go of his thoughts in the slightest to be back in his bed with Audrey's warmth wrapped around his starved nerves. She had insisted on finishing the massage he'd interrupted shortly after he had helplessly kissed her awake this morning.

Nathan could have spent the rest of his life happily lying in his bed as long as his precious Audrey would stay there with him, those amazing hands burning over his skin. He'd swear in court that he could still feel the heat she'd rubbed into his back, could still feel the lines and curves of her against his body, in his hands.

He already missed touching her, having her touch him. It had been very, very hard to drop her off at home so she didn't have to show up at work wearing yesterday's clothes and the scent of his shampoo. It wasn't like everyone in the entire town wouldn't already know she'd spent the night at his house. The first second he got in arm's length of her it was going to be all over the town gossip network exactly what was between them, because he was going to drag that gorgeous blonde into his arms and happily lose himself in the heat of her kiss and the stroke of her hands. And it wasn't going to matter a damn bit who else was in the room when he did it.

His mind was still on her lips when he stepped into their office and stopped short. She'd beaten him here somehow and Duke was sitting in his chair with a shit-eating grin and his feet up on the desk. "Mornin' Nathan."

That smile usually made him want to reach for a gun. Any other morning it still would. But today… today was special because of what Duke had done to and for him, for them really. And really, Nathan could admit at least to himself that he was happy to see him. That didn't mean he had to admit it out loud. "Why are you sitting at my desk, Duke?"

He let himself enjoy the shock and edge of disappointment in Duke's face as the former criminal's shoes thunked against the floor. "That… That's pathetic. Really, Nathan? Today of all days, you're going for the angry cop routine? Really?"

Nathan watched Audrey smile out of the corner of his eye and helplessly remembered the feel of those lips curving against his own, the vibration of her giggling against his chest. He wanted her in his arms more than he wanted to bug Duke. And then he could rub the fact that he could touch Audrey in Duke's face just a little. "No, that's not what I'm going for today." He arched an eyebrow at Duke and turned his back on him completely. Three steps led him to Audrey's side. Her hands met his half-way and then she was pressed against his chest, heating up his lips and the skin of his neck to the sound of Duke laughing behind him. Deepening the kiss, he warmed both hands in the silk of her hair, adoring the slight pain of her nails digging into the back of his neck.

When Duke's laughter changed to something closer to gasping and choking, Nathan forced his head up and tucked Audrey in close against his ribs. He wrapped both arms around her and turned to look at Duke with a smile. "Thank you, Duke, for being a manipulative and interfering bastard." There was the feel of Audrey's laughter against his throat, the curve of her lips almost against his skin, her hair tangling against his neck. "I owe you more than I can, or will ever, say, so don't make me arrest you anytime soon."

Duke wasn't laughing anymore, but he was smiling wider than Nathan had ever seen him manage before. Dark eyes widened and locked on his hand. Nathan knew exactly what Duke was looking at. Audrey's hand was intertwined with his, fingers clutching as she wrapped his arm around her waist and cuddled closer. And the miracle of it all was that Nathan could feel her grip, could feel the warmth of her skin. He could feel her cheek move against the edge of his jaw as she shook her head. "Nathan, still hiding…" His arms tightened automatically before opening to let her go. He watched his girl walk the few feet to Duke and take his hand. "Ignore Nathan, you know what he's like." Audrey leaned in for a hug and not a single bit of Nathan reacted like he would have just yesterday. He knew she was his, just like he was hers. And though he would never tell either Audrey or Duke… Duke was theirs. "Thank you, Duke, for being smart and for caring enough about both of us to help us out. And we do owe you… a lot."

His arms still around Audrey, Duke laughed and winked at Nathan over her shoulder. "Don't even think I won't try to collect that debt. I've wanted to own some cops for years now." Nathan watched Duke shift Audrey under his arm and fling an arm around her shoulders. "And there's no better cops to have on my side than you two."

"We may be on your side… depending on what side you're on at the time… but you do not now nor will you ever own some cops." Nathan took a couple of steps closer and rested a hand on the butt of his gun. "And I'd like my partner back now. Give me back my Audrey."

"Your Audrey?" Duke smiled down at Audrey. "Possessive much, isn't he? Doesn't it bother you?"

"Nah, he's my Nathan too. I'm pretty possessive myself." Nathan watched Audrey pressed a kiss to Duke's cheek before she came back to his side and twined their hands together. That was what he needed, smooth warm skin and a tight grip. "Besides, who else is going to tell me all those childhood stories that he doesn't want to share?"

Nathan just shook his head as the two most important people in his life laughed and smiled. Damnit, he was going to have a very interesting time watching after Haven with these two watching his back. "I'm going to be very sorry that you two get along so well, aren't I?"

Audrey pressed closer along his side, the sweet sound of her laughter shaking his ribs. "Probably, but it won't ever be boring."

"Because boring was such a risk in the land of the troubled…" Nathan just shook his head and leaned down for a quick kiss before lifting his head with a smile. "Come on, pancakes are on me and I'll even treat Duke too."

"I could go for pancakes. After you two."

Nathan gave Duke a small, but genuine smile over Audrey's head and tucked her closer under his arm. "Don't get too used to the nice treatment, I still expect to handcuff before the year's out."

Duke's smile only widened. "I'd expect nothing less."

Yup, this was going to be anything but boring.

000


End file.
